firehose

I feel you, Sara. I am constantly ordering cheerleader asado burritos by mistake. And then by the time you take it back to the office and actually notice the mistake you just eat it anyway because you're too lazy to go back to the restaurant. Previously in Sesame Street

Almost exactly a year ago, my Kickstarter edition Pebble smart watch arrived. I had ponied up the cash the first week that the founders posted the product on the crowd-funding website.

Already the Pebble has become my primary time-keeping device. This comes as a surprise. I like to think of myself as something of an early-adopting tech geek. Over the years I’ve developed a small collection of 16 mostly affordable watches in all shapes and sizes. And I would have never thought that the Pebble would displace all of them.

But it has. There are many reasons for this. Not least its sheer utility, and the the small moments of triumph and smug satisfaction the Pebble offers as it displays live train times or turn-by-turn directions.

And yet the luxury watch industry still doesn’t get it. Over the last 12 months, my Pebble has become a sure-shot conversation starter at meetings with executives at some of the world’s most exclusive watchmaking brands. I cover the luxury watch industry for Mint, one of India’s most widely read business newspapers.

Sure, some executives are curious to know how the Pebble works. Others want to know what apps I run. Most, however, are dismissive of smart watches. And the higher up I go in the world watchmaking food chain, the more derision I ran into. Reactions range from “This is just a fad” to “No self-respecting person would wear a mass-produced device like that” to “Tell us when Apple makes one.”

Even executives at brands with serious technology pedigree such as Seiko and Citizen seem to take no notice of this product segment. Based on my interactions with these watch executives, the traditional “dumb watch” business is not exactly quaking in its shoes at the prospect of smart watches. In fact they mostly don’t seem to care at all.

This is a terrible position for the industry take. Here are three reasons why:

Mass isn’t so bad

Many watchmakers are certain that luxury watch buyers will never wear a watch made of plastic. That is possibly true. Right now. Only as long as smart watches remain what they are today: experimental, geeky devices of questionable utility. As these watches get smarter and more powerful, they can and will offer much more functionality. Imagine if Apple brings out a watch that integrates well with an iPhone and is genuinely useful. (Not inconceivable.) If the proposition is strong enough a large enough market might switch to the smart watch. (Unless wearing both a smart and dumb watch becomes a trend.) What about exclusivity and luxury? The mobile phone market has already shown us that even the wealthiest consumers are satisfied with mass market products. The luxury mobile phone market is a joke.

Prices are still low

Most smart watches right now cost around $200 to $300. As these watches get bigger and better, these prices could go up. (Especially as smart watch brands try to emulate the external fit and finish of mainstream watch brands.) This could put them squarely in competition with the low- and middle-range brands of the Swiss watch industry. Exactly the segment that is currently undergoing great upheaval. The company that supplies over half the Swiss industry with the movements that power them has announced that it is paring back supplies. By 2020, Swatch will no longer be under an obligation to supply parts to other companies. This means that most brands will have to approach other suppliers for parts or invest heavily in their own factories. This is exactly the kind of crisis you don’t want aggravated by a new smart watch segment that is cheaper and way more useful than your products.

History could repeat itself

This isn’t the first time something like this has happened. The last time a major new technology was introduced into the watch business, there was a bloodbath. When cheap quartz technology first arrived on the world market, most traditional watchmakers didn’t make much of it. In 1969, Seiko launched the world’s first quartz watch. Established brands reacted to that in much the same way that many are currently reacting to smart watches—mostly by not reacting at all. Fifteen years later, almost two-thirds of all Swiss watchmakers had shut shop. Thousands of jobs were lost. And power shifted to the Japanese and American watch industries. With what seems to be derisory disregard to this nascent new smart segment, are the Swiss—and now even the Japanese—going to see that horrible history repeat itself?

Follow Sidin on Twitter @sidin. We welcome your comments at ideas@qz.com. 

Fantasy Map: “Burgertown” by Anthony Scerri

A fun little project that turns the humble hamburger into the transit system of a thriving metropolis: Burgertown! As Anthony says on Twitter, this project “combines my love of hamburgers and NY’s MTA Subway map” — in a delicious way! 

Three of the four lines list the types of ingredients that can be used: the “Leafy Green Line” has stops at “Arugula”, “Oak Leaf” and “Iceberg”, for example. However, the “Bread Line” confuses things a bit by listing types of bread — “Rye”, “Country White”, “Brioche”, etc. — and ingredients that go into making bread. This means there are stops at stations like the less than appealing “Sodium Stearoyl Lactylate” and “Calcium Propionate” (which is oddly repeated twice). For consistency with the naming of the other lines, it might have been better to leave all the nasty-sounding stuff out.

Technically, things are put together well: I like the way the Cheese Line “melts” over the side of the Meat Line: yum! Perhaps the curves in the Meat Line could nest within each other a bit better: it looks like the same radius is used throughout at the moment. Hamburger purists might also like to see the addition of a “Fixin’s Line” — that might include ketchup, tomatoes, onions, pickles and so on.

Still, a lot of fun to be had here!

Back in August, some footage of Jerry Lewis’ long-buried, carefully guarded The Day The Clown Cried made its way to the Internet, enchanting fans of cult cinema like a circus clown leading kids to a Nazi gas chamber. That footage has since been removed, dismissed from YouTube like Lewis repeatedly has any inquiry into actually seeing the thing. But now there’s another way to learn a little bit more about Lewis’ legendarily tone-deaf creation, besides secondhand reports from Harry Shearer, one of Patton Oswalt’s staged readings, or just looking at the script yourself.

New, lengthier clips have emerged from a documentary that was being made about its production, offering actual takes from the film and some behind-the-scenes revelations—like the fact that Serge Gainsbourg and Jane Birkin were apparently on set, with Gainsbourg drawn inexorably to the Jerry Lewis flame, like all French ...

OnlyMrGodKnowsWhy

Attn: @otters

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–The Office

Original Source

The first time I remember seeing producer Run Run Shaw's name was in the credits for Blade Runner—it wasn't until later that I'd get into kung fu movies and realize the impact and scope that the Shaw Brothers' movies had. At age 106, Run Run Shaw has died, and The Dissolve sums up his epic career:

Run Run (real name: Shao Yifu) and his brother Run Me started producing films in the 1920s, and moved to Hong Kong in the late 1950s to found the Shaw Movietown studio complex. Pumping up the lengths and budgets of their movies, the Shaws became the kings of the Chinese film market. Although they made all kinds of pictures, they became most closely associated with the outrageously entertaining kung fu movies they churned out constantly during the 1960s and ’70s. Even today, their classics—Five Deadly Venoms, The One Armed Swordsman, Five Fingers Of Death—and the “Shaw Brothers” brand remain synonymous with the genre they helped establish and popularize around the world. (Via.)

But the best thing I've read about the producer comes from an email sent out today by the Hollywood Theatre's Dan Halsted, whose Kung Fu Theater series shows a ton of Shaw Brothers stuff. Hit the jump for Halsted's email about Run Run Shaw, and note the part where he promises "screenings over the next few months" to pay tribute.

Sir Run Run Shaw, the founder of Shaw Brothers Studio, died yesterday at 106 (or 107, no one was sure exactly). He was a true legend. He and his brothers started making movies (and building their own theaters for distribution) in the 1920's, when the Chinese film industry was in its infancy. They were already wealthy in 1941 when Japan invaded Singapore, and the Japanese shut down their studios and theaters. Run Run and his brothers BURIED their fortune, and dug it up when the war was over. Run Run then went to Hong Kong and started Shaw Brothers Studio.

Shaw Brothers became the MGM of Hong Kong, the largest studio in the country's history, and Run Run ran the studio like a factory. All cast and crew lived at the studio and worked constantly. From the early '60s to the mid '80s, they released around 1000 films. Although they worked in all genres, they are most well known for their hundreds (and hundreds, and hundreds) of kung fu movies. Their films were known for their production value, which was much higher than martial arts fans were used to. The studio had massive sets and outdoor locations, where the top actors, directors, cinematographers and fight choreographers honed their skills. Shaw Brothers completely revolutionized Hong Kong cinema. They ceased film production in 1985, and Run Run moved on to TV.

When I found the huge collection of 35mm kung fu films a few years ago [Read more about that here. —Erik], it was Run Run's niece that I originally tracked down. She put me in touch with Run Run's right hand man to work out the film donation (there was one reel that Run Run personally requested to keep, and I had to overnight it to Hong Kong).

The Hollywood Theatre will DEFINITELY be paying tribute to Run Run Shaw with a few screenings over the next few months. R.I.P. Sir Run Run Shaw!

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Sounds like Oregon legislators may take a crack at marijuana legalization before voters have the chance to decide on a ballot measure in November.

That's the case, at least, according to State Rep. Jennifer Williamson. The Portland representative told officials gathered at this morning's Local Public Safety Coordinating Council meeting she expects legislators could consider the matter during the legislative session that convenes February 3.

"I'm sure there will be a marijuana bill, or at least a conversation about a marijuana bill ahead of the measure," Williamson said.

The group New Approach Oregon filed an initiative petition to legalize pot back in October and, unlike an effort that went down in flames in 2012, this one appears to have the financial support to garner a win.

Anthony Johnson, the chief petitioner, filed a revised initiative last week, according to the Oregon Secretary of State's Office. The language, though I haven't parsed it paragraph for paragraph, seems substantially the same, with an added bit about commercial hemp. Johnson hasn't responded to my queries about the new filing.

Regardless, New Approach Oregon has said it would welcome the legislature's involvement in the push for legal pot. If Williamson is to be believed—and she's usually knowledgable on law enforcement and justice matters—that's probably on its way.

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	Courtney shared this story from Tom & Lorenzo:
	for Katie

---

Cute and impeccable is a pretty devastating combination.

 

 

Michael B. Jordan attends the 2014 New York Film Critics Circle Awards Ceremony at The Edison Ballroom in New York City in a Clavin Klein suit paired with Christian Louboutin shoes.

Shooting the cuffs on the red carpet. Nicely done, Mr. Suave. You’re a movie star.

We really love those shoes, but we think it takes a particular kind of guy to work the two-tone shoes, two diamond earrings, gigantic cuff links (which: yay) and a tie bar all in one outfit. It helps that the outfit is very basic and otherwise low-key, but still. We wouldn’t recommend that anyone but a PhD-level dresser (or someone for whom it’s perfectly suited) attempt that many guyccessories in one look. We’d look like a couple of silly peacocks with that much jewelry on.

 

 

 

 

 

[Photo Credit: Cindy Ord/Getty Images]

tommypickles:

the only acceptable haircut

pleatedjeans:

via

In European cultures, we cremate our dead or bury them in a simple pine box. But coffins are a lot fancier in Ghana, where the Ga people believe that life continues in another world after death, and they want it to carry on in style. Here are some stunning examples of Ghana's famous coffin art.

Read more...

Valve has approved a selection of 50 new games via Steam Greenlight, ensuring the future Steam release of Kickstarter-funded projects like 7th Guest 3, Manos: The Hands of Fate, and a remake of the classic adventure game Shadowgate, among other ...

“You mean the generation that paid three times as much for college to enter a job market with triple the unemployment isn’t interested in purchasing the assets of the generation who just blew an enormous housing bubble and kept it from popping through quantitative easing and out-and-out federal support? Curious.”

- When comments are better than the article, Atlantic edition (“The Cheapest Generation: Why Millennials aren’t buying cars or houses, and what that means for the economy”)

The Seahawks ranked seventh against the run during the regular season, but opponents enjoyed success down the stretch by pounding the ball out of jumbo and power looks. Although the Seahawks have held opponents to 3.9 yards per carry -- surrendering just six runs of 20-plus yards -- the persistent, power-oriented approach used by the San Francisco 49ers and Arizona Cardinals allowed both teams to control the tempo in their respective wins over Seattle. The Saints initially attempted to run the ball at the Seahawks from a handful of power sets, but they didn't stay committed to grinding it out when they failed to pick up consistent yards on early downs. While moving away from the ground game is understandable in certain instances, the Saints must focus on attempts -- not yards -- in the rematch. This was part of their approach last Saturday night in Philadelphia, when they totaled 185 rushing yards on 36 attempts. With Thomas on the shelf, Payton relied on a three-back rotation of Mark Ingram, Khiry Robinson and Darren Sproles to wear down the Eagles' smallish defensive front. Ingram in particular was effective in pounding the ball between the tackles. This enabled Payton to turn to the running game and alleviate pressure on Brees in the pocket. Against the Seahawks, Ingram needs to play a major role as the feature back in the game plan. He must be given 18-plus carries for the Saints to get the game on their own terms.

submitted by nancyland [link] [comment]

letmyenemiestakecare:

*fistbump*

losexcentricos:

Selena did it first.

It’s been almost eight months since The Office finale mercilessly robbed us of the  laidback comic stylings of Craig Robinson. Thankfully, the Robinson-drought is finally coming to an end: According to Variety, the actor is returning to NBC for a new comedy about a middle school music teacher. As previously reported, the project—titled Mr. Robinson—was ordered to pilot in late 2012, with Office showrunner Greg Daniels attached to executive produce. Although Mr. Robinson wasn’t picked up in May, NBC left the pilot in contention, it's now given the series a six-episode order. Daniels, who is no longer attached, will be replaced by showrunners Mark and Robb Cullen, of ABC's short-lived Back In The Game. It's not yet clear whether the show will premiere this year or next. 

Mr. Robinson centers on a musician-turned-teacher who “learns how to put the school’s rules to the test.” (Which sounds a bit ...

Straight from the folks over at Industrial Light and Magic, here's an insanely detailed breakdown of all the wondrous action in Guillermo del Toro's Pacific Rim. This video is also proof that we shall never tire of watching giant robots fight giant monsters.

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Timeline of the Far Future (larger)

Pipe or Butt[edit]

The butt (from the medieval French and Italian botte) or pipe was half a tun, approximately 475 to 480 litres. Therefore the imperial butt was 105 imperial gallons (477.33945 litres)^{[nb 1]} and the US butt was 126 US gallons (476.961884784 litres).^{[nb 2]}

Original Source

newyorker:

Richard Brody on what would have saved “Saving Mr. Banks”: http://nyr.kr/19b2kMq

“Had ‘Saving Mr. Banks’ shown Travers in all her complexity, it would have redeemed the studio’s honor—would have proven that a family-friendly movie could expand its definition of family to embrace those which, formerly, were beyond the studios’ purview. It would have been a vision of progress—or, dare I say, of hope.”